1,001 Albums Project #1: “You Are The Quarry” — Morrissey
General Reactions
I just can’t deal with Morrissey’s voice, man. It’s not that I have a problem with British accents or anything, his voice just sticks out like a sore thumb over the instrumentals rather than blend with the other sound textures. Maybe that was the desired effect but it just doesn’t do it for me.
The actual recording quality of the tracks are quite good, with the instruments sounding crisp, and a nice overall mix. There were occasional cool instrumental “parts” and standout “moments” throughout the record. But the SONGS were just boring as hell to me — and I hate using the word “boring”.
Admittedly, I’ve never seriously listened to The Smiths — or any solo Morrissey record for that matter — so perhaps some context was missing; I am willing to entertain the possibility that my ears are not calibrated properly to really *hear* this record.
Redeeming Qualities
The album did have a nice flow and transition between songs; that is to say, a nice variation of grooves, tempos, energies and/or moods. It didn’t feel “stuck in one gear” for too long, which gives the record some shape.
Song titles and lyrics are very clever and, consequently, the best part of this album in my opinion (well — besides that album cover — does anyone else think he looks like a young Paulie from The Sopranos…?)
Highlights
Possibly favorite track from album; guitar sound bad ass
There were 2 overlapping musical Beatles quotes that were so blatant I had to rewind to make sure I heard correctly.
Within the first 15 seconds of the song we hear the chord progression for “She’s So Heavy”, immediately followed by a melody fragment from “Here Comes the Sun”. I mean that HAD to be intentional… Right?
Lowlights
“First Of The Gang To Die” — Corny, but not in that “guilty pleasure” way. Studio fade was a rough to get through.
“Let Me Kiss You” — Was pretty good until the “Ohhh-ho-ho” gap hook in the chorus. I cracked up and couldn’t take the rest of the song seriously. I’m sorry Morrissey I really tried, dude. This studio fade was actually alright, I liked the chord progression to this one.
Conclusion
- Second & third listens was slightly better than the first (slightly)
- Would listen to this album again if it was an instrumental version with no vocals.
Bonus Album Recommendation #1
Similarities to “You Are The Quarry”
- Cool guitar sounds + great lyrics
- Nice album “shape”; felt like a journey just like Quarry
- Challenging to listen to at times
Differences from “You Are The Quarry”
- Einstein’s Theory of Song Length Relativity — Remarkably, the average track length in Bottle it In is twice as long as the average track length of You Are the Quarry
… Despite this; I never felt bored in a 9 minute Kurt Vile song — I was on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next lyric or guitar passage / tone. I was able to “live” in the seemingly aimless and repetitive vamps because my waiting was routinely rewarded with a pay-off in the form of a cool musical moment. With Morrissey I felt like I was just waiting for the song to end.
- Texture — there was a certain amount of “dirt” in the sonorities of Bottle it In that I preferred over You Are The Quarry — which was almost too clean at times.
Highlights:
“Bottle It In” — title track tailor-made for paranoid late-night listening. Get lost in this one.
“Come Again” — Banjo = cool almost all the time
“Rollin with the Flow” — excellent cover of Charlie Rich’s classic tune
“Loading Zones” — Album opener that moves with fun lyrics. Tells a story with imagery that’s thought-provoking but also somehow comes across as lazy . Really neat.
“Hysteria” — Humor without being corny. This is probably why it has the most memorizable chorus. It is a fine example of the quirky minimalism-esque listening phenomenon I experienced many times listening throughout this album: being so perplexed by the repetitive vocals and/or instrumental vamps that I was eagerly waiting in anticipation to hear what happens next — like a beautiful & musical car wreck. Bonus points for some nice marimba/mallet percussion mixed into the track.
Next album on the docket from the book, “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die”:
Happy Listening!
